Steady improvement in collator technology has given rise to numerous patents on various features and combinations. Even with this activity, novel advances are still desirable to improve the collator's efficiency through such steps as noise reduction, reduction of power consumption, and increasing versatility for the machine. A representative list of the existing state of the art in collators is shown in five United States patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,372,922 (Snellman et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,254 (Snellman et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,753 (Snellman); U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,670 (Johnson); and U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,867 (Johnson). The collator of this invention is an improvement in several features of the collator art. The referenced patents are incorporated by reference to gain the benefit of their teachings on common collator features and mechanics.